Mister Shifter is a character that appears in the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions. He is a deadly shape-changing native of the Black Zone in the Special Zone. Sonic referred to him as "a big, ugly, purple guy, who's made of plasticine".

History[]

Mister Shifter[]

Mister Shifter, disguised in a trench coat and fedora, attempted to rob a young, red-haired girl in New Tek City. In fact, the girl was a spy for Robotnik investigating if the Special Zone was ripe for invasion. Attempting to shoot the girl with his gun, he was interrupted by Sonic the Hedgehog, who snatched the bullet out of thin air. The two fought, and Shifter initially gained the upper hand, trapping Sonic's feet in his meta-clay and then brutally pummelling him. However, Sonic managed to grab Shifter by the wrist and vibrate him at sonic speed, making him feel very ill and causing him to release Sonic's feet. As a final blow, Sonic tied one part of Shifter to a lamppost and then stretched him all around the street, extending him to his limit, and then letting him go.^[1]

Personality[]

Shifter is incredibly arrogant and confident in his own abilities.

Powers and abilities[]

Shifter's body consists of a purple substance known as "Radioactive Meta-Clay", giving him the power to stretch like rubber or change his own consistency, becoming as hard as concrete or as soft as water. He can also withstand blunt attacks without taking any damage: when Sonic punched him in the face, it merely left a hand print over one eye which soon disappeared.

Trivia[]

• In Nigel Kitching's script for Sonic the Comic #87, "Mister Shifter", he mentions that the idea of a "plasticine-man" was suggested to him by the artist (Richard Elson).^[2]
• The name Mister Shifter originated from a PG tips advert featuring tea-drinking chimpanzees.^[2] The advert in question first aired in 1971. It features a piano-moving chimpanzee (Mr. Shifter) and his son, who are distracted from moving a piano when the lady of the house brews them some tea.^[3]

References[]